Pinillos’ departure isn’t a shock given injury problems

Daniel Pinillos will be remembered for his last-gasp equaliser against Derby but his injury problems proved his biggest enemy.

Published:10:04Friday 19 May 2017

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When it was announced this past week that left-back Daniel Pinillos will be released by Nottingham Forest once he reaches the end of his current deal I can’t honestly say I was too surprised.

Boss Mark Warburton began his summer cull by announcing that the Spanish star would not remain at the City Ground next year, choosing instead to send him on his way and not offer him an extension to stay at the football club.

Although Pinillos has only been at the club for two seasons he has built up quite a rapport with the Forest faithful and a blearier-eyed, more sentimental manager might have offered him a new deal based purely on his heroics against Derby County back in March, where he netted a 94th minute equaliser.

Warburton, however, seems to have his head screwed on a little bit more than that when it comes to wheeling and dealing in the transfer market.

In two seasons the 24-year-old played just 35 times for Forest and spent several months out on the sidelines with a serious knee injury.

Of course, he didn’t get injured on purpose but to give an indication of his struggles, after making his return to the side in the game against Ipswich Town away he went onto miss the next eight league fixtures with a recurrence of the same problem.

Warburton is probably all too aware that ex-Arsenal man Armand Traore is under contract for next season and is also extremely prone to an injury, making his decision to send Pinillos on his way, a tough but ultimately sensible choice.

I have little doubt the Forest boss will look to add a left-back to his ranks in the coming months and he will surely look for one with a decent track record when it comes to staying fit.

The ex-Rangers boss must have considered his own playing style as a key factor when it came to deciding Pinillos’ fate, with the Spaniard not overly comfortable when playing as a left wing-back, preferring instead the role of left-back as part of a back four.

All of these factors have rightly been taken into consideration and it is quite refreshing to see a Forest manager use his common sense when it comes to spending money, after years of cash being wasted at a frantic rate.

The Reds need to work smartly in the transfer market this summer to avoid slipping below financial fair play constraints once again and this latest news to come from the Forest boss goes a long way towards indicating that he is the perfect man to take the club forward.

Pinillos was signed on a free transfer by Dougie Freedman and although that deal in itself represented a mightily good piece of business for the club, his injury problems of recent months ensure that the latest decision made by Warburton regarding the ex-Granada man is equally as shrewd.